Concert Review – Keith Urban and Sugarland at Madison Square Garden (10/8/2009)

Thursday, Oct. 8, 2009
Madison Square Garden

Keith Urban with special guests Sugarland

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I can’t explain how excited I was to attend this arena concert featuring two Country music mega-stars.  I saw Keith Urban about two years ago in the same venue, Madison Square Garden, when he toured with Carrie Underwood and after that show I knew I had to witness his brilliance again.  I don’t know if it was because I’ve already seen Urban, but my excitement was matched for the Country duo of Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush, a.k.a. Sugarland.

I arrived at the concert about twelve minutes late.  I was hoping the show didn’t start on time, but unfortunately it did, which meant I missed the first couple songs of their set that included “Love,” “Settlin'” and “It Happens.”  That didn’t matter though because I was in store for an additional 60 minutes of pure Sugarland fun!

The raw power of Nettles’ voice blew me away during their set.  She is definitely one of a kind and without a doubt one of the stand-out frontwomen in the past decade.  Whether she’s singing with complete emotion during “Joey,” strumming the guitar with the rest of the band during “Genevieve,” or simply dancing around the stage and having a great time during “All I Want to Do,” she was simply captivating.

The show-stopping moment during their set was when they played three consecutive songs that was memorable in their own individual way.  First, they performed “Everyday America” which got the whole audience dancing and singing along.  The contagious smile from Nettles was having an effect with the crowd, especially during the breakdown of the song when she covered snippets of a few popular songs such as “Hot in Herre” by Nelly and “Rock with You” by Michael Jackson.  Afterwards, the lights went out and the mood went from super-energetic to super-mellow as Nettles and Bush stood in the middle of the stage with the spotlights shining only on them, and went right into their Grammy-winning ballad, “Stay.”  And just when it seemed Sugarland was going to keep the mood at a slow pace, they exploded into “Who Says You Can’t Go Home,” made famous by the duet vocals of Bon Jovi and Jennifer Nettles.

Sugarland was exceptional and there’s no reason why they couldn’t headline their own tour right now.  They proved from their sensational live performance that they’re definitely one of Country’s biggest and best acts.

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With the black curtain covering the entire stage, Keith Urban and his band set up in about 20 minutes until the house lights went off and the introduction of “Hit the Ground Runnin'” played over and over again.  It was a great way to start the setlist.  The beating drums and rock guitar riff had the crowd up on their feet in no time.  The stage had a huge screen behind the band which was broken up into five columns.  Off to the sides of the stage were two additional screens.  Needless to say, there wasn’t a bad seat in the house and nothing would go unnoticed from all the camera angles being displayed.

Urban played hit after hit in the beginning of his set and after he concluded “You’re My Better Half” he made his way through the crowd to a small solo stage in the middle of the arena and yelled, “Who’s got the good seats now?”  He then played a solo version of “Once in a Lifetime” and stayed there to dedicate “Making Memories of Us” and “Only You Can Love Me This Way” to his wife, Nicole Kidman, who was in attendance.

Then it was time for Urban to return to his band as they performed the energetic “Who Wouldn’t Want to Be Me.”  The adrenaline rush didn’t last long because the tone was settled down once again when Urban played “Til Summer Comes Around” off of his new album Defying Gravity.  Then, he asked if the crowd was ready for something special and explained that since his wife was here tonight, he was going to play a song he doesn’t normally play.  The song was “Thank You” and featured Urban on the keyboards.  It was arguably the most touching moment of the night.

He was able to get the audience clapping and singing along again with Country-rock songs “Kiss a Girl” and “I Told You So.”  But the moment that stood out the most, in my opinion, were the next two songs that were performed.  Beginning with a short montage of random people singing and playing the upcoming hate-ballad, Urban sat himself down on a stool with his acoustic guitar and played “You’ll Think of Me.”  Equivalent to Sugarland’s show-stopper “Stay,” this is Urban’s most powerful song on his resume and he didn’t hold any emotion back.  Immediately after, the recognizable guitar riff started to blare over the loudspeakers and “You Look Good in My Shirt” was performed.  Urban sported a guitar that blinked a colorful light show as he trekked up and down the aisles and even had a fun audience sing-a-long to the track.

Urban’s final song of his pre-encore set list was “Somebody Like You.”  Whe he came back on stage for his two-song encore, he played a heart-felt, acoustic version of “Tonight I Wanna Cry” and concluded his spectacular two-hour set with his anthem, “Better Life.”

I must say, this was an absolutely terrific show and Keith Urban keeps proving why he’s one of the top entertainers year in and year out.

Keith Urban and Carrie Underwood @ MSG

February 13, 2008 @ Madison Square Garden
Keith Urban w/ Carrie Underwood

The best of country music performed on Wednesday night at MSG.  And saying that they’re “the best of country” is justifiable because of their Grammy wins on Sunday for best female/male country vocal performance.  But as a country music fan, the Grammy wins were just a bonus for an already highly anticipated concert.

Now I’ve heard many great things about both Carrie Underwood and Keith Urban’s live performances.  Carrie has been accused of lip-syncing when she sings live and she simply took that as a compliment.  Heck, if she sounds exactly like she does on the album, that just proves she’s one of the best singers in the business today.  And for Keith Urban… I’ve heard about his amazing live show and how she should be crowned Entertainer of the Year almost every year.  With this type of praise, there wasn’t a doubt in my mind that this could be one of the best shows I’ve ever attended.

So at around 7pm I got to the venue with Allie and followed the line of cowboy hats I saw from a block away.  We reached our seats (Section 96, Row L – straight up center, great seats) and just took in the atmosphere.  On the other end of the arena was the enormous stage with all the instruments set up.  There was a catwalk connected to the center of the stage that extended to about 3/4 of the floor.  The catwalk split the floor seating into halves, but I was on the other end of the stage and had a perfect view of the length of the catwalk and the whole stage.

As the arena began filling up, a gigantic light screen emerged from behind the stage, showing a countdown from five minutes.  When the countdown finally reached zero, the arena went wild and the light turned off.  Camera phones were ready for Carrie’s entrance, but as a minute went by the background music came back on, as so did the lights.  It was quite an anti-climatic experience to be teased like that, but surely there was some kind of misunderstanding or technical difficulty backstage.  Only after a few minutes of waiting, the five-minute countdown was back up on the screen.  The buzz died down as the second countdown ticked to nothing, but when the lights went out again and the band took the stage, the audience expressed their joy with cheers.

After a little screen introduction showing Carrie walking through the desert and then exploding the world, the intro of “Flat on the Floor” was played.  Everyone rose to their feet and clapped to the rhythm as Carrie Underwood entered the stage from underneath a trapped door.  She was dressed all in black, except for her gray shorts, with leather pants, top, and high heels.  She moved all around the stage during her first, and most upbeat, song of the night.  I’ve mentioned on my first listen to Carnival Ride that “Flat on the Floor” would be the perfect opening to her concert, and it sure was.

Being Valentine’s Day eve, she chatted a little bit about finding her perfect man prior to singing “More Boys I Meet.”  It was fun seeing her approach every band member, and then walking down the catwalk where a fan handed her a single rose.  She was very personable and reacted to the crowd well as she shook everyone’s hands near the catwalk while she was singing. 

After singing her ballad “Just a Dream” she went of for her first costume change.  She came back wearing an elegant blue-ish dress almost imitating Cinderella (don’t worry, she didn’t sing Ever “Ever After”).  Her dress captured the mood for the next few songs; her first hit single “Jesus Take the Wheel” and her power ballad “I Know You Won’t.”  Even though she showed a little sickness from coughing from time to time, her vocals were still dead one.  “I Know You Won’t” is such a strong and noticeably difficult song to sing, I was more than impressed at her range and near-perfection singing it live.

Carrie is always trying to improve herself and her music.  First she co-wrote a number of songs on her new album, and at the concert she strummed on her acoustic guitars during “Get Out of This Town” and “Don’t Forget to Remember Me.”  As a musician myself, I could tell she wasn’t completely confident with the guitar yet, but it’s really nice to see her expanding her talent. 

The best songs of the night that the crowd really got involved with were “I Ain’t in Checotah,” “Last Name,” and her new single “All-American Girl.”  One song that I didn’t really particularly like on the album, but was blown away by the live version was “Twisted” (a specific favorite of Carrie’s).  Carrie finally changed into a comfortable t-shirt and jeans for the remaining songs of her set where she seemed to have the most fun.  She concluded her performance with her #1 song “Before He Cheats.” 

Overall, Carrie lit up the stage with her glamour and singing ability.  She seemed like a natural walking up and down the catwalk as if she was a model.  The way she talked with the crowd just like she was talking to a friend was refreshing.  She thanked the fans and of course her family for everything.  She did mention American Idol as well, knowing that she has a lot to thank to the reality show for her success.  And, she showed off why many praise her voice as one of the best in the business.  She’s the real deal with the full package.  I’ll definitely be happy to see her live after her next album.

Once Carrie exited the stage, the crew immediately tore down the set and prepared for Keith Urban.  They were able to finish all of their work in 30 minutes when the lights finally went out.  There was a huge screen behind the setup, covering the entire length of the stage.  Like Carrie, Keith had an on-screen introduction as well; his dealt with the galaxy and the stars.  Then just as we were following a shooting star, it turned directions and exploded into the screen.  The special effects were amazing because my seat was shaking from the noise of the star crashing into the set.  And then Keith Urban emerged on a tall platform with his guitar as his silhouette was dancing in front of the bright backlight.  His opening song, “Once in a Lifetime” had the entire arena on their feet and clapping and dancing along.  It was evident that the majority of the crowd was here for Keith.

I finally witnessed first-hand why people have coined him one of the best live performers, and many critics make a debate how he should be “Entertainer of the Year.”  It’s impossible not to enjoy what he was doing on stage.  Singing with a smile on his face and shredding his guitar during those lengthy outros full of solos and breakdowns, Keith Urban was outstanding.  After his explosive opening song, he toned the pace down only a bit as he played “Where the Blacktop Ends” and “Shine.” 

About a quarter of the way into the set, Keith and his band walked the length of the catwalk and landed themselves on a small circular platform.  Where my seats were, he was almost directly in front of me and I had the best view of the night.  He then continued to play acoustic ballads that were popular for swaying and sing-a-longs: “Making Memories of Us” and “You’ll Think of Me.” 

Once that was over, they walked back to the stage and totally tore the house down with his powerful and immensely upbeat track, “I Told You So.”  He continued to awe me with his many talents as he picked up the bass for “Faster Car” and sat on the piano for “Tonight I Wanna Cry.”  He also played my favorite song of his, “Stupid Boy” and like he did throughout the entire set, showed how he could smoke the frets off the guitar.

Keith Urban did everything you could ask for a performer.  He reacted with the crowd, had sing-a-longs and chants, addressed every section in the arena, and he even walked through the crowd and gave a fan his guitar during “You Look Good in My Shirt.”  His encore was his anthem track “Better Life” sandwiched between slower songs “Got Right This Time” (which he always dedicates to his wife Nicole Kidman) and his closer “Everybody.”

I truly couldn’t think of a way he could’ve given a better performance.  This was just the icing on an already sweet cake.  When it was all over, the entire experience lingered in my mind as I kept thinking to myself, “This was the best show I’ve ever seen.”

Carrie Underwood Set List (One Hour):
Flat on the Floor
Wasted
Get out of This Town
More Boys I Meet
Just a Dream
Jesus Take the Wheel
I Know You Won’t
I Ain’t in Checotah
Last Name
Don’t Forget to Remember Me
Twisted
All American Girl
So Small
Wheel of the World
Before He Cheats
 
 
Keith Urban Set List (Two Hours):
Once In A Lifetime
Where the Black Top Ends
Shine
Faster Car
Used to the Pain
Better Half
Making Memories of Us
You’ll Think of Me
I Told You So
Days Go By
You Look Good in My Shirt
Tonight I Wanna Cry
Stupid Boy
Who Wouldn’t Wanna Be Me
Somebody Like You
Got Right This Time
Better Life
Everybody